The 24th annual Salem4Youth Charity/Horse Auction is coming up in about two weeks on Saturday, April 13, and the residents at the facility are hard at work preparing for it’s biggest fundraiser of the year.

Linda Lindley, vice president in charge of Family Services at Salem4Youth, said that the charity auction, which is held in the facility’s gym at 8 a.m., will include more than 250 new items.

“There will be everything from vacations to Cabo (San Lucas), lawnmowers, tools, playhouses and a lot of different things. There will be something for everybody,” she said, adding that items from the residents’ woodworking class will also be available to buy. “They’ve made some tables and other work and they’re really excited to show what they’ve been doing. There are some other things they’ve gotten into. There’s an Illinios State University professor that has donated her time and comes up and works with the kids. They have made solariums to sell.”

The horse auction, which begins at 1 p.m., will have about 30 horses for sale.

“It’s really something to see. They change our barn into a sale ring and there’ll be 30 beautiful horses going through the sale ring that day. This year, we have Arabians, quarter horses and several others. We also have several disciplines, like show horses, family horses and saddle bred horses,” Lindley explained.

The auction is the biggest fundraiser that Salem4Youth holds each year. The program is a private organization, so it receives no state or federal funding. Lindley said it is sustained through its horse program, as well as other donations.

“The one main thing that we can do for families that other programs can’t do is that we can offer a sliding scale. Because of our private donors and because of this auction, we’re able to take in boys who can’t afford to spend $5,000 to $9,000 a month for another program to help them,” she explained. “We are able to slide way down and offer scholarships so the boys can come, so this money goes directly to funding our program. It goes nowhere else than directly to our boys.”

With the fluctuation in the economy, nationally and locally, the fact that Salem4Youth depends on these fundraisers to sustain its program becomes very important.

“It’s kind of amazing the way our auction works. Since I’ve worked at Salem, I’ve seen a lot of good things happen here, even money that just comes from nowhere will show up. Our auction took a hit a few years ago, but it seems like people have it in their hearts to give. They believe in what we’re doing and our auction is usually very successful. We just pray every year that people come out,” Lindley said.

Page 2 of 2 - Last year, the fundraising goal was $50,000, and she said they made more than $120,000.

She explained that Salem4Youth is a behavior modification program for boys between the ages of 12 and 17. It is a Christian residential school. She said the boys live there, go to school there and work at the ranch.

“These boys are good boys. A lot of people will say that, then ask why they’re at a place like this. They’re good boys who have made bad choices. Most of the time, this is the best last chance they’ll get before going somewhere like juvenile detention centers, jail or worse,” Lindley explained. “This is the chance they get to pull things together. We start from basics and teach the basic skills that they need to know in life, such as how to greet someone and how to disagree appropriately. Those kinds of life skills they need.”

She said that by the time the residents graduate the program, which takes nine to 15 months on average, they could go home and be a pillar in their homes and in their communities.

“That is our goal when we take in a child,” Lindley said.

She also said that the boys really get involved with the annual event, not only with the auction but helping make things for it.